This fall the girls tennis team is practicing and preparing for the start of league. Coach Lynn Barcellos, Assistant Coach Jackson Barcellos, as well as Assistant Coach Alexis Barcellos are excited for this season.
When Coach Alexis Barcellos was asked what team is going to be the most challenging, she said, “This year I think I’m going to say El Capitan because they have a new freshman coming in and I think they’re going to be pretty tough to beat, but I think we can do it.”
After all five years of coaching tennis, Barcellos learned to try and see things differently.
Barcellos stated, “I think the biggest challenge is trying to put things in the perspective as a coach versus being a player, which I used to be, and then just trying to make sure not to give too much constructive criticism.”
Constructive criticism is a part of sports but so is positivity. As the number two singles player, Julianne Gurgen (11) said, “To prepare I will make sure to always stay positive and encourage myself to keep going.”
A lot of sports are mental and as an athlete it’s important to keep a positive mindset as well as never getting discouraged.
Even though Gurgen has been playing tennis since her freshman year, she still runs into obstacles, which she stated, “The hardest obstacle is myself, because I’m on the court alone so when I mess up I get in my own head.”`
Therefore, after her full two years of experience, Gurgen has had to pick up techniques to stay positive during her matches.
Barcellos has big plans for her girls this season as she mentioned, “Ideally, it’d be great to get back to the section finals, like we have the last two years.”
With one of the top ranked players staying positive it will play out like dominoes amongst the 32 girls that decided to go out this season.
The first league game will be home versus Golden Valley September 23.
